


In the Family

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Character Study, Gen, Missing Scene, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Skywalker twins share a quiet moment during the celebration after the death of the Emperor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lsellers (Annariel)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/gifts).



> For lsellersfic in fandom stocking.

Leia left Han in a circle of Ewoks and rebel pilots, halfway to drunk on a bottle of Corellian brandy that Lando had triumphantly brought out of the _Falcon_. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy, this at ease, and thought perhaps that was because she had _never_ been this happy and at ease, or at least not in her adult life. Darth Vader and the Emperor were dead and the Death Star had been destroyed, and while she didn’t doubt the work there was still to do, for the first time in a long while all she could see was light ahead of her.

She felt like they could achieve anything.

Luke was sitting in the dirt amongst the trees, a little ways away from the party, his arms circling his bent knees. He seemed lost in thought but he must have sensed her approach because he tilted his head towards her.

“You’re missing the party,” she told him, dropping to the ground beside him.

“I’m sure it will still be there when I get back. Anyway, I doubt they’ll miss me.”

“The hero who killed the Emperor? Believe me, stay away too long and you’ll have half the Rebellion searching for you.”

Though she had meant it as a joke, Luke didn’t smile. He seemed sad for a man who had just helped the Rebellion win its greatest victory, but then, he had seemed subdued since he’d first arrived on Endor.

 _He’s mourning his father,_ Leia realized. She couldn’t do the same. When she thought of Vader, she felt only relief that he was gone.

“It wasn’t really me who killed the Emperor.”

“Luke,” Leia started, but Luke raised his hand.

“No,” he said. “No, I’m not… I’m not trying to be modest or anything. It just… It wasn’t me. It was our father.” He looked askance at her and added, “Anakin. Vader.”

“Vader?”

“I wasn’t strong enough,” Luke confessed. “I wasn’t strong enough to defeat him. He would have killed me, but Vader, he… He killed the Emperor. He killed the Emperor to save my life, and it cost him his own life in the process.”

Leia could only stare at him while her mind raced to catch up with what Luke was saying. This was more of the story than anyone had heard yet, perhaps more than Luke felt comfortable enough to share with anyone but her. It was a story that would need to be told, but for now, it was only Luke’s story.

And now he was trusting her with it.

“Darth Vader killed the Emperor,” Leia said, trying out the sound of the words. It was difficult to believe.

“Yes,” Luke said eagerly. “The Emperor, he…” His eyes clouded over momentarily. “He would have killed me, but my father, our father, he stopped it. There was good in him, still. He was still the good man Obi-Wan told me about, his friend from all those years ago. He was still my father.”

“Seems you were right about him after all.” 

Leia wasn’t sure what to think, or how she should feel. She wanted to be glad. She wanted to be happy to be proved wrong, that her… her biological father (because he wasn’t her true father, he never would be, Bail Organa would always be that man) wasn’t _quite_ as terrible as she had believed him to be. She was glad that Luke was safe, in any case. She was grateful to Vader for that, if nothing else.

But she couldn’t share in Luke’s feelings for the man. No matter what else was true, Darth Vader had caused Leia too much pain and heartbreak, had hurt people all over the galaxy. Leia could not forget the torture she had borne at his hands, nor the way he had held her in an iron grip while he allowed Alderaan to be destroyed. It was because of him that Han had nearly been taken from her forever. If there was good in him, it had been buried so deep it almost didn’t matter.

Leia didn’t have Luke’s warm heart nor his forgiving nature. Perhaps that was Anakin Skywalker’s legacy to her.

“I was being naive,” Luke said, bringing Leia out of her thoughts.

“Maybe,” Leia said. “But you were being yourself, and that’s all we can do. You always managed to hold onto your sense of hope.”

“Was that what it was?” For a moment Luke’s gaze seemed focused on something else, something in the trees, but Leia could neither see nor hear anything.

“Don’t sell yourself short. I don’t believe there’s another soul in the galaxy who would have had the compassion to see the best in that man, after everything. It was your faith and courage that brought down the Emperor.”

“And your strength and courage that bought me enough time to succeed.”

“Well,” Leia said, squeezing Luke’s upper arm. “We do make quite the pair.”

Luke finally smiled at her. “I guess it runs in the family.”

Silence fell once more, though Leia could hear the faint sounds of laughter and music in the distance. Soon she would go back, find Han. She hoped there would still be some brandy left for her. Actually, she hoped there would be some brandy left for Luke - he probably needed it more.

“You know,” Luke said, “I always wanted a sister. When I was growing up on Tatooine.”

“Not a brother?”

Luke’s smile widened. “Well, I was kind of a scrawny kid. Figured a sister would be safer.” He paused. “Though I might have to reconsider that now. You would’ve had the rule of me, no question.”

Laughing, Leia said, “Are you saying I’m bossy?”

“Never,” Luke said, feigning innocence. It mostly worked - even as a powerful Jedi, Luke still had a bit of the sweet farm boy in him. Leia thought she would always remember like him that, the skinny boy dressed as a stormtrooper who had promised to rescue her.

“Well, I always thought it would have been fun to have a brother. So that works out.”

Leia rested her head against Luke’s shoulder, appreciating his camaraderie as well as the moment to be quiet and still amidst the night’s revelries. She had lost so much over the past few years, but sitting here with her brother, she knew that what she had gained was worth everything.

**_End_ **

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] In the Family](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8895172) by [KeeperofSeeds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeeperofSeeds/pseuds/KeeperofSeeds)




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